{"id":19226,"date":"2018-05-16T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-05-16T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/the-coming-kingdom-046\/"},"modified":"2018-05-16T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2018-05-16T05:00:00","slug":"the-coming-kingdom-046","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/the-coming-kingdom-046\/","title":{"rendered":"The Coming Kingdom 046"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[87],"series_event":[470],"sermon_service_type":[474],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-19226","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-luke","series_event-the-coming-kingdom","sermon_service_type-wednesday-evenings","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"The Coming Kingdom 046","sermon_date":"20180516","sermon_month":"5","sermon_year":"2018","sermon_notes":5769,"sermon_slides":5770,"sermon_mp3":5771,"sermon_id":"516181858154","series_or_event":470,"service_type":[474],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":87,"chapter_and_verse":"10:17-20","sermon_transcript":"Andy Woods\n\nThe Coming Kingdom\n\n5-16-18\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Luke 10:17-20\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lesson 46\n\nLet\u2019s take our Bibles and open them to the Gospel of Luke, chapter 10, verses 17-21.\u00a0 Just a quick reminder that next week I think is our last Wednesday night until summer recess.\u00a0 So when we get together again Wednesday night, I think we\u2019re going to start up again the last Wednesday in August, which I think is the 29th<\/sup>.\u00a0\u00a0 We\u2019re just going to pick up the study where we left off.\n\nAs you all know we\u2019re working through this book that I wrote which organizes biblical data on the subject of the kingdom.\u00a0 We\u2019ve spent a lot of time trying to ask and answer what does the Bible say about the kingdom, which is a long topical study, isn\u2019t it?\u00a0\u00a0 We\u2019ve learned that the kingdom in the present age, after you look at everything that\u2019s been disclosed about the kingdom, the kingdom is not present but the kingdom is what?\u00a0 Postponed!\u00a0 And yet there are many, many people today that will tell you that you\u2019re in the kingdom now.\u00a0 So we\u2019ve looked at the major problem with that which \u00a0is basically they\u2019re changing everything the Bible has revealed about the kingdom.\n\nAnd now we\u2019ve kind of journeyed into the section of our study where we\u2019re trying to ask and answer what are the biblical passages that people use to support the idea that we are in the kingdom now, because the dominant view in the history of the church is what\u2019s called amillennialism, and it\u2019s a dominant view going all the way back to the fourth century A.D., that Jesus in His first coming set up the kingdom in a spiritual form.\n\nSo we\u2019re focused on passages that people use to say we\u2019re in the kingdom now and we\u2019re looking \u00a0at passages from Christ\u2019s ministry.\u00a0 So we looked at Matthew 3:2, \u201cThe kingdom of heaven is at hand,\u201d as basically preached by Jesus, John and the Twelve, and we saw that what that really means is not that the kingdom is here but the kingdom is what?\u00a0 Near!\u00a0 So had Israel enthroned Christ the kingdom would have come in the first century.\n\nThen we have looked at the expression \u201ctheirs is the kingdom\u201d in Matthew 5 and we saw that that is what\u2019s called a futuristic present tense, not designed to communicate a present tense reality but a reality that\u2019s certain.\u00a0 In other words, the kingdom\u2019s coming is so certain that Jesus could speak of it in the present tense.\u00a0 So it\u2019s a description of certainty, not a present tense reality.\n\nAnd then from there we went and looked at the Lord\u2019s Prayer, really better said the disciples prayer, and we saw that that prayer doesn\u2019t teach that we\u2019re in the kingdom now either because what that prayer is are three requests for the kingdom to come and three additional requests for needs to be met while the kingdom is not here.\u00a0 So that prayer in no way, shape or form argues that we are in the kingdom presently.\n\nThen from there we looked at Matthew 6:33 which says, \u201cseek first the kingdom,\u201d and really what that means is we are to\u2026 it\u2019s not saying the kingdom is here, it\u2019s saying we\u2019re to align our lives with kingdom values because we are citizens of the coming kingdom, ambassadors if you will.\u00a0 I think we talked about that last week.\n\nAnd then we also looked at this verse in Matthew 11:12 which says the kingdom \u201csuffers violence\u201d until now.\u00a0 [Matthew 11:12, \u201cFrom the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force.\u201d]\u00a0 And we saw that when you look at the cross reference in Luke that\u2019s not saying that the kingdom is here; what it\u2019s saying is not that the kingdom was being resisted but the proclamation of the kingdom was being resisted.\u00a0 Does any of that ring a bell?\n\nWhat you can see as you can go through each one of these passages that people use and a lot of people won\u2019t give\u00a0 you this detailed look at each passage, they\u2019ll just string them together and throw them at you.\u00a0 But when you go through these passages carefully what you see is none of them really teach that we\u2019re presently in the kingdom.\u00a0 So tonight I want to look at Luke 10:18 and if time permits I want to look at Matthew 12.\u00a0 Luke 10 is the description of Jesus saying\u2026Jesus said \u201cI saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0Matthew 12 is the famous statement where Jesus says, \u201cthe kingdom has come upon you so we\u2019ll look at both of those tonight and I\u2019ll try to show you that neither of those teach kingdom now theology either.\n\nSo let\u2019s go ahead and start with Luke 10:17-20.\u00a0 This is Jesus when He sent out the seventy to offer the kingdom to Israel.\u00a0 It says, \u201cThe seventy returned with joy, saying, \u2018Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 And then verse 18 is the key verse, it says, \u201cAnd He said to them,\u201d the seventy, \u201cI was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning. [19] Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you. [20] Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.\u201d\n\nSo what people will do is they will grab that single verse there in verse 18 that I have underlined, where Jesus says \u201cI was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning.\u201d\u00a0 And they\u2019ll develop this idea that Jesus cast Satan out of heaven right then and there, and since Jesus cast Satan out of heaven right then and there and some would say even bound Satan right then and there, then the kingdom started.\u00a0 And as you look at the particulars of this I don\u2019t think that\u2019s what Jesus is saying.\n\nBut one of my seminary professors, Darrell Bock, who\u2019s written scholarly commentaries on Luke and Acts makes a big deal about this. Darrell Bock is an individual who believes in already\/not yet, the kingdom is already here in spiritual form but the \u201cnot yet\u201d portion is still coming. So he\u2019s still a believer in kingdom now theology, not to the same degree as an amillennialist but still to a certain degree.\n\nAnd he writes this: \u201c\u201cThough the Acts message has more detail and focuses more clearly on Jesus, the message is essentially the same: the reign of God is inaugurated. <\/em>In that inauguration the deliverance of God in the future God has been guaranteed.... Luke 10:18\u201d that\u2019s the verse we just read, \u201cconfirms the arrival of authority with the announcement of the kingdom. Here the ministry of the messengers is also discussed. \u00a0Jesus notes that he saw the fall of Satan from heaven, a clear message of defeat for the arch enemy demon in the exorcism ministry of the Seventy-two<\/u>.\u201d\u00a0 So what he\u2019s saying is when they exorcised this demon (in this context) that Satan fell from heaven right then and there because Jesus brought in the kingdom.\u00a0 \u201cIn Judaism, the coming of the Messiah and the demonstration of His authority were seen as marking the end for Satan.... In Luke 10:18, however, the stress is on current events in Jesus\u2019 earthly ministry that spell the defeat for Satan. The image of Satan\u2019s defeat is important for it pictures his fall not just from heaven, but from rule as the next passage shows. The portrait of Luke 10 is of Jesus\u2019 authority as expressed in His followers<\/em>....\u201d\n\nSo he\u2019s saying the kingdom is started, the reign of God has begun as evidenced by what Jesus did to Satan by causing him to fall right then and there.\n\n\u201cAlthough this is not Satan\u2019s ultimate fall (Rev. 20:7\u201310), his authority now stands challenged and defeated in a decisive way. The ministry of Jesus and the disciples is a turning point. The exorcisms by\u00a0Jesus and the disciples are tied to the kingdom\u2019s presence, as the next key text, Luke 11:20, makes clear<\/u>.\u201d\u00a0 So he\u2019s connecting this with Luke 11:20 which we\u2019re going to deal with tonight if we have time, most likely next week, but if you slip over to Luke 11:20 it\u2019s the parallel passage to Matthew 12:28 where it says, \u201cBut if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.\u201d\u00a0 So that passage is like the favorite passage of the kingdom now theologians.\n\nAnd they will tie that one together with Luke 17:20-21 where Jesus says the kingdom is \u201cin your midst.\u201d So you see how they\u2019re connecting all of these passages, Luke 17, the kingdom \u201cis in your midst.\u201d\u00a0 Luke 11:20, \u201cthe kingdom of God has come upon you,\u201d and then you put that together with the alleged fall of Satan and in their minds they\u2019ve got this airtight case that Jesus started the kingdom in His first coming.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0[Luke 17:20-21, \u201cNow having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, He answered them and said, \u201cThe kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; [21] nor will they say, \u2018Look, here it is!<\/em>\u2019 or, \u2018There it is!<\/em>\u2019 For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.\u201d\u00a0 Luke 11:20, \u201cBut if I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.\u201d]\n\nDarrell Bock says, \u201cAny attempt to limit the meaning of this fall of Satan to just the activity of Jesus or to see it as merely proleptic\u201d now \u201cproleptic\u201d means future, \u201cfails.\u201d\u00a0 So he\u2019s saying Jesus is not talking about something that happened in the distant past and He\u2019s not talking about something that will happen in the distant future; it\u2019s something that happened in the ministry of Christ right then and there.\u00a0 So that becomes evidence in his mind that the kingdom started with Christ in His first coming.\u00a0 \u201cAny appeal to the presence of God\u2019s kingly power in the person and message\u201d and this is the significance of the transfer of power to others, and ignores the kingdom association Jesus makes in explaining these activities of Luke 11:20.\u00a0 [Darrell Bock, \u201cThe Reign of the Lord Christ,\u201d in Dispensationalism, Israel and the Church, ed. Craig A. Blaising and Darrell L. Bock (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1992), 40\u201341.]\n\nSo what he\u2019s saying is Jesus had the power right then and there, He cast Satan out of heaven, he delegated His authority to the disciples as they went out and preached and did exorcisms and that kind of thing. \u00a0And in his mind what that indicates is the kingdom of God has begun, the reign of God has been inaugurated.\n\nSo it\u2019s interesting that these people all have verses that they use to support their view or else it really wouldn\u2019t be much of a view, would it.\u00a0 So anybody that argues anything from the Bible always have some kind of scriptural support.\u00a0 The issue is are they quoting the Bible in context;\u00a0 \u00a0are they quoting the Bible accurately.\u00a0 And I\u2019m convinced that Satan did not fall right then and there in the ministry of Jesus and I basically have three reasons for this.\u00a0 Number 1\u2026 well let me ask you this: has Jesus always been around?\u00a0 Yeah, He\u2019s always been around, there never was a time in which He was not, right!\u00a0 Because He is eternally existent.\u00a0 So it\u2019s a mistake to say, as the Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses do, that Jesus is a created being.\u00a0 It\u2019s a mistake to say, as Arius did in the early church, there was a time in which He was not, that\u2019s called the Arian heresy and it\u2019s this idea that Jesus was a created being.\n\nSo there never was a time in which Jesus didn\u2019t exist, He is the eternally existent second member of the Trinity and as such was He there to see Satan fall originally?\u00a0 Yes He was.\u00a0 In fact, He was the one that caused that fall originally.\u00a0 And there are at least two passages I know of that talk about Satan\u2019s fall in the remote past.\u00a0 Two of the most popular ones are Isaiah 14:12-15 referring to the past fall of Satan and then also Ezekiel 28:12-17.\n\n[Isaiah 14:12-15, \u201cHow you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn!\u00a0\u00a0 You have been cut down to the earth, You who have weakened the nations!\u00a0 [13] But you said in your heart, \u2018I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north.\u00a0 [14] I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.\u2019\u00a0 [15] Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol, To the recesses of the pit.\n\nEzekiel 28:12-17, \u201cSon of man, take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre and say to him, \u2018Thus says the Lord GOD, \u2018You had the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.\u00a0 [13] \u201cYou were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering: The ruby, the topaz and the diamond; the beryl, the onyx and the jasper; the lapis lazuli, the turquoise and the emerald; And the gold, the workmanship of your settings and sockets, was in you.\u00a0 On the day that you were created they were prepared.\u00a0 [14] You were the anointed cherub who covers, and I placed you there. <\/em>You were on the holy mountain of God; you walked in the midst of the stones of fire.\u00a0 [15] You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created until unrighteousness was found in you.\u00a0 [16] By the abundance of your trade you were internally filled with violence, and you sinned; therefore I have cast you as profane from the mountain of God.\u00a0 And I have destroyed you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.\u00a0 [17] Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor.\u00a0 I cast you to the ground; I put you before kings, that they may see you.\u201d]\n\nSo since Jesus has always been He was there when Satan fell in the remote past.\u00a0 And in fact, Jesus was the one that caused that fall.\u00a0 So the eternally existing Christ saw Satan fall in the remote past.\u00a0 He caused the fall of Satan in the remote past indicating His power over Satan.\u00a0\u00a0 And this forms the basis of the exhortation to the disciples.\u00a0 So what is happening with these disciples is they\u2019re being sent out on their first missionary assignment, 70 of them, and they come back just gleeful, as you look at verse 17, they say even the demons are submitting to us.\u00a0 And Jesus sort of gives them an exhortation, He gives them a lesson in humility.\u00a0 He basically gives them a reality check.\u00a0 And basically what He\u2019s saying to them is the only reason\u00a0 you\u2019re able to go out and cast out these demons in Luke 10 is because I have delegated authority to you.\u00a0 In other words, you\u2019re not doing this on your own power; you\u2019re doing this only under My power and I have the power to do this because I was there when Satan originally fell.\u00a0 In fact, I was involved with God the Father, God the Son Myself, and God the Holy Spirit in kicking Satan out of heaven in his original fall.\n\nAnd therefore you have to understand that when you go out and do things in My name\u00a0 you\u2019re not doing it through your own power, you should rejoice in that,\u00a0 you\u2019re doing it under My delegated authority and I have the power to delegate that authority to you because I was there and actually caused Satan\u2019s original fall.\u00a0 So Jesus is not saying Satan fell right then and there in His ministry; He\u2019s making a reference backwards to the past.\n\nAnd that\u2019s why He says in verse 20, \u201cNevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that\u00a0your names are recorded in heaven.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 In other words, if you really want to be happy about something be happy about this, not that you\u2019re exercising authority here on the earth over unclean spirits but be happy in the fact that you\u2019re eternally secure, and I have the power to make\u00a0 you eternally secure.\u00a0 You understand we\u2019re eternally secure, right?\u00a0 John 10 tells us we\u2019re in the double grip of grace, we\u2019re not only in the Son\u2019s hand, we\u2019re in the Father\u2019s hand.\u00a0 You can\u2019t get much more secure than that.\n\nAnd Jesus has the power to make us secure because He is the one that has power over Satan, because after all, He was there when Satan originally fell.\u00a0 And in fact, Jesus kicked him out of heaven.\u00a0 So Jesus is not at all saying here that Satan fell right then and there.\u00a0 What He\u2019s saying is I have power over Satan, I was there when he originally fell, I caused his original fall and therefore you should understand that any authority that\u00a0 you\u2019re exercising in My name is only there because it\u2019s been delegated to you.\u00a0 And if\u00a0 you really want to behappy about something rejoice in the fact that you\u2019re secure in Me.\u00a0 As long as you\u2019re in Me you\u2019re eternally secure because you\u2019re in the double grip of grace and I have the power to make you secure because I was there to originally kick Satan out of heaven.\n\nSo what He\u2019s doing is He\u2019s reaching into the past and He\u2019s using that to form an exhortation to them in the present.\u00a0 Do you see that?\u00a0 And you say well, that\u2019s a strange interpretation.\u00a0 Well, it\u2019s not a strange interpretation; this is the traditional interpretation of Dallas Seminary.\u00a0 When Darrell Bock comes along and says Satan fell right then and there in the first century he\u2019s deviating from what the school has historically taught.\n\nSo if you go to the writings of J. Dwight Pentecost and his book, The Words and Works of Jesus Christ<\/em>, this is what he says about this story, the historical account that we just read about in Luke 10.\u00a0 \u201c<\/em>After completing the ministry entrusted to them, the seventy-two returned to report to Christ. They seem to have been preoccupied with the miracles they had performed. They made no report on the response of the people to their ministry but reported on the response of the demons to the exercise of the authority that Christ had entrusted to them.\u201d\u00a0 So they\u2019re kind of caught up, not so much in people getting saved, people responding to His message, but look at this neat power that we now have.\u00a0 So you\u2019re dealing with some people that need a lesson in humility.\u00a0 He goes on and he says, \u201cIt was necessary for Christ to rebuke the seventy-two. He reminded them that the authority was not theirs. It was His. He had conferred it on them (v. 19).\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s what he\u2019s saying in verse 19. \u201cThis authority belonged to Him because He had expelled Satan from heaven at the time of his original fall (Luke 10:18; cf. Ezek. 28:12\u201315 to Isa. 14:12\u201315).\u201d\u00a0 <\/em>[The Words and Works of Jesus Christ: A Study of the Life of Christ<\/em> (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1981), 297\u201398.]\n\nI mean, this verse is not saying that Satan fell in the first century; it\u2019s Satan fell in the past.\u00a0 Jesus was there to see it as eternally existent; Jesus was there to cause it.\u00a0 And the seventy shouldn\u2019t be too excited about their power, they only have it under His delegated authority.\u00a0 That\u2019s all Jesus is saying here.\n\nBut you see how Dwight Pentecost is interpreting Luke 10 consistent with a past fall of Satan.\u00a0 In other words, Darrell Bock is reading into the passage way too much, that\u2019s what he\u2019s doing.\u00a0 Why is he doing that?\u00a0 Because he wants a present form of the kingdom now.\u00a0 And when you go to the text wanting something to work you have a tendency to push things beyond what the text says.\n\nThe Bible Knowledge Commentary also published by Dallas Seminary, this particular writer, John Martin, did the Luke section and he writes this: \u201c\u201c<\/em>When the messengers came back, they were excited that even the demons had submitted to them in Jesus\u2019 name. This was true because of the authority Jesus had given them. They had such authority because Satan\u2019s power had been broken by Jesus. He answered them, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.\u201d\u00a0 Now look at this next line, I\u2019ve got it italicized, \u201cJesus was not speaking of Satan being cast out at that precise moment<\/em>, but that his power had been broken and that he was subject to Jesus\u2019 authority. However, Jesus said the cause for their joy should not be what they could do in His name but in the fact that their names were written in heaven. The personal relationship of a believer with God should be the cause of his joy. The authority given to these workers and the promise of no harm from snakes and scorpions was given for this particular situation (italics added)\u201d\u00a0 [John Martin, \u201cLuke,\u201d in The Bible Knowledge Commentary, New Testament, ed. John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck (Colorado Springs, CO: Chariot Victor, 1985), 233]\n\nSo this is one time power that Jesus gave them for a particular assignment.\u00a0 And they were enthused with the fact that they had this power and Jesus says well, first of all, you didn\u2019t report to Me on the people out there that needed compassion; all you could talk about is your power.\u00a0 You know, kind of like a lot of churches today, you listen to the leaders talk and they talk about their budget and they talk about their marketing plan and they talk about how many people are coming and they talk about all these externals and you wonder, in this discussion what about all the people that are hurting out there that need to be touched by that particular church.\n\nSo one of the greatest pieces of information I\u2019ve ever gotten in ministry was from a seminary professor, he said it\u2019s not about us as leaders, it\u2019s not about us it\u2019s about them.\u00a0 It\u2019s not about our gifting, it\u2019s not about our outreach, it\u2019s not about our this, our that, it\u2019s about touching the people under Christ\u2019s delegated authority that need to be touched because they\u2019re hurting because we live in a sin cursed world.\u00a0 So the seventy really weren\u2019t concerned about the need for compassion on people, what they were all excited about was their power.\u00a0 And so Jesus just makes a simple point that you wouldn\u2019t have this power under this circumstance unless I had delegated it to you.\u00a0 And by the way, I have the power to delegate it to you because I was there when Satan originally fell.\u00a0 In fact, I was involved in evicting Him from heaven when he fell originally and if you want to be excited about something be excited about your own eternal security that I\u2019m accomplishing for you right now, also through the double grip of grace.\n\nWe can kind of get like that, can\u2019t we; we can get excited about what God does through us instead of the people that need to be touched by Christ through us.\u00a0 And that\u2019s why these seventy needed some correction.\u00a0 And to make the correction Jesus is not saying Satan fell right then and there; He\u2019s just making a historical point, going back to Satan\u2019s original fall.\u00a0 So to build into this the reign of God has begun and all of these things, such as you see in the writings of Darrell Bock is just unnecessary; he\u2019s pushing things beyond what the text warrants.\n\nSecondly, the second reason why I don\u2019t think Satan fell right then and there is subsequent Scripture never indicates Satan\u2019s weakened power over the earth.\u00a0 I mean, if Satan fell in some sense right then and there, at that precise moment, and the kingdom of God started then why is it that the rest of Luke\u2019s Gospel\u2026 and by the way, Luke wrote a sequel called The Book of Acts so you have to consider Luke and Acts together, why does subsequent Scripture after Luke 10 in Luke and Acts never indicate that Satan is bound.\u00a0 So if you hold your place here in Luke 10 and just journey a few chapters to the right, you\u2019ll come to Luke 22:3.\u00a0 Does it look like Satan is bound at all when you go to Luke 22:3, the same book, same author, just a little later.\u00a0 It says, \u201cAnd Satan entered into Judas who was called Iscariot, belonging to the number of the twelve.\u201d\u00a0 Does it look like Satan is bound there?\u00a0 No, it he just goes right inside Judas, the only unbeliever in the group (I\u2019m convinced) of the twelve to accomplish the final deed of the trail of Christ.\u00a0 I mean, if Satan is bound in Luke 10 how did he get loose again in Luke 22.\u00a0 See that?\u00a0 That\u2019s the point I\u2019m trying to make.\n\nAnd look at Luke 22, look at verse 31, tell me if you think Satan is bound at all in Luke 10? [Luke 22:31, \u201cSimon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat;\u201d] \u00a0Jesus has a conversation with Peter and He calls him \u201cSimon,\u201d now that\u2019s kind of interesting, why would Jesus\u2026 He renamed him Peter, why would He call him Simon?\u00a0 Simon is his Jewish name, Petros is his Greek name, and Cephas is his Aramaic name.\u00a0 And it\u2019s Jesus that gave him the new name, Peter, which means little stone.\u00a0\u00a0 And when Jesus said \u201cUpon this rock I will build My church\u201d He wasn\u2019t saying I\u2019m going to build the church on Peter, He says you are Petros<\/em>, little stone, and upon this rock, Petra<\/em>, which means large stone, I will build My church.\u00a0 So He\u2019s going to build the church on Peter\u2019s confession of Christ, not on Peter, because he switches from Petros to Petra over in Matthew 16:18.\u00a0 [Matthew 16:18, \u201cI also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.\u201d]\n\nBut then he starts calling him Simon again, so why would He call him Simon again, His Hebrew name, when Jesus already gave him a new name, Petros, little stone?\u00a0 Well, because Peter is acting like his old self here and because Peter is acting like his old self Jesus calls him by his old name.\u00a0 see that?\u00a0 He\u2019s trying to point out that Peter is acting inconsistent with his new identity.\u00a0 A little stone is someone that\u2019s stable and Jesus named him, not on the basis of what he was but who he would become.\n\nSee that?\u00a0 He would become a man of stability.\u00a0 And that surely happened because as you go into the Book of Acts, chapters 1-10, Peter is the main man.\u00a0 It\u2019s Peter that preaches the sermon on the day of Pentecost and 3,000 people get saved, and you go all the way through the Book of Acts, the first ten chapters, and you\u2019ll find Peter became that man of stability.\u00a0 In fact, Peter went to his death, we know from extra biblical writings, crucified upside down to glorify Christ.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t want to be crucified right side up because he didn\u2019t see himself worthy to die the same way Jesus died, He wanted to be crucified upside down.\u00a0 So Jesus gave Peter a name not based on who he was but who he would become.\u00a0 Does that encourage anybody?\u00a0 When the Lord deals with us He looks at us, not as who we are (praise God for that, right!) but who we will ultimately become in God.\u00a0 But here\u2019s a case where Peter is starting to waffle, his knees are getting wobbly, and so Jesus calls him by his old name to communicate that he\u2019s living outside of his identity.\u00a0 Anyway, that\u2019s just a sidebar.\n\nVerse 31 he says, \u201cSimon, Simon, behold Satan has\u201d what? \u201cdemanded permission to sift you like wheat.\u201d\u00a0 In other words there\u2019s conversations going on right now in heaven Peter, or Simon, that you don\u2019t know anything about.\u00a0 I mean, how would you like the Lord to tell you that sometime?\u00a0 Satan asked a question, permission to sift you like wheat\u2026 I think if that kind of conversation was going on about me in heaven I\u2019d rather not know about it, thank you very much.\n\nBut the fact that Satan is still in heaven, isn\u2019t he?\u00a0 See, Satan, I\u2019ll show you the chart in just a second, can still go into heaven.\u00a0 He doesn\u2019t go into heaven to worship and serve as he once did as a high ranking angel\u00a0 but he can go into heaven to communicate and to accuse.\u00a0 And that ability is not taken away until Revelation 12, about halfway through the tribulation period.\u00a0 So here is Satan, fully going into heaven, to make a demand to sift Peter (or Simon) like wheat.\u00a0 Now how could Satan do that if he was bound in Luke 10?\u00a0 That doesn\u2019t make any sense, does it?\u00a0 So the interpretation that you\u2019re given in Luke 10 can\u2019t be right when you look at all of the Scripture on this.\u00a0 And this is one of the ways you solve issues in the Bible is you sort of examine what does the rest of the book, the same author and the same book, say on the subject.\n\nAnd then Luke\u2019s sequel is called the Book of Acts and let\u2019s go to Acts 5:3 and\u00a0 you tell me if Satan is bound in Luke 10.\u00a0 This is in the early church.\u00a0 \u201cBut Peter said, \u2018Ananias, why has\u201d who? \u201cSatan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land? \u201c\u00a0 So this is Ananias and Sapphira in the early church who had taken a piece of property that they owned, remember, they are practicing here communal, sort of communal living where the wealthy in Jerusalem were taking their property and selling it so that the people that came on the day of Pentecost that got saved, from distant lands, could continue to stay in town, in Jerusalem, and learn at the feet of the apostles.\n\nAnd they had a big economic problem because the folks that came from distant lands only had enough resources to be there briefly, for the Pentecost holiday, and now they got saved and so they wanted to stick around and learn about this new Christian faith that they had believed in.\u00a0 They couldn\u2019t just go home and read the New Testament because they don\u2019t have a New Testament yet.\u00a0 So you\u2019ve got to sit and learn about all of this from the feet of the apostles.\n\nSo to prevent this economic problem from getting out of control the saints in Jerusalem sold property that they had so that they could help the out-of-towners financially so they could grow in stability in their new found faith before they went back home.\u00a0 So Ananias and Sapphira had a piece of property and they sold it and they said we\u2019ve given all of the proceeds of the sail to the church.\u00a0 Well, the reality is when\u00a0 you go through Acts 5 they hadn\u2019t done that at all.\u00a0 They sold it and they kept back part of the proceeds for themselves.\u00a0\u00a0 Now the Bible is very pro private property.\u00a0 The sin of these people, Ananias and Sapphira, was not the fact that they kept back part of the proceeds of the sale for themselves.\u00a0 That\u2019s not the issue.\u00a0 If they wanted to do that they were free to do that because if you look at Acts 5:4 it says, \u201cWhile it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.\u201d\n\nThe sin wasn\u2019t that they kept back part of the proceeds of the sale for themselves; they could have done that if they wanted.\u00a0 The sin was they misrepresented their level of generosity.\u00a0 They told everybody we sold it all and gave all the money to the church when in reality they hadn\u2019t.\u00a0 And what you have to understand about the church is it\u2019s an infant at this point and an infant, a newborn, is vulnerable to all kinds of germs and bacteria and things like that.\n\nAnd that\u2019s how it works spiritually, because the church was new so God couldn\u2019t let this slide.\u00a0 And so Ananias and Sapphira were killed right there on the spot.\u00a0 It\u2019s what you call a maximum divine discipline and a lot of people will say well, they obviously weren\u2019t Christians, Ananias and Sapphira.\u00a0 But if you look at verse 11 it says, \u201cAnd great far came over the whole church, and over all who heard these things.\u201d\u00a0 See, if an unbeliever had been struck dead I don\u2019t know if the church would have been afraid, but if one of their own were struck dead and sometimes whom the Lord loves the Lord chastens, and sometimes that chastening can be very severe.\u00a0 Amen!\u00a0 Sometimes it can be to the point of death.\u00a0 And God had to do this to protect this new entity called the church because sin of any level, particularly of this magnitude, could have stopped the early work of God in its embryonic or infancy form.\n\nBut again, that\u2019s just a side bar again.\u00a0 If you look at verse 3 you see why Ananias and Sapphira lied.\u00a0 It\u2019s very clear, \u201cSatan filled your hear to lie to the Holy Spirit.\u201d\u00a0 [Acts 5:3, \u201cBut Peter said, \u2018Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land?\u2019\u201d]\u00a0 So if Satan was bound in Luke 10 how could he get loose again in Acts 5 to do this, to influence us?\u00a0 And by the way, there\u2019s a good lesson in this for us; Satan, I don\u2019t think can possess the Christian because I don\u2019t think God and Satan can be roommates, because your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 But I\u2019ll tell you this much, Satan can influence us, particularly when we yield to the sin nature.\u00a0 Satan can come into our lives and he can influence us negatively when we give up ground.\n\nThat\u2019s why the Book of Ephesians, chapter 4 and verse 30 says \u201cDo not let the sun go down on your anger lest you give the devil a\u201d what\u2026\u201d a foothold.\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s clearly written to the Christian there in Ephesians 4:30\u00a0 so when I cater to the sin nature, like for example, unforgiveness, then Satan has a foothold into my life, not to possess me but to influence me and to use my anger or sarcasm or something to injure somebody else.\u00a0 So that\u2019s sort of what happened to Ananias and Sapphira.\n\nThey misrepresented their level of generosity and Satan influenced them, Satan took whatever ground they were willing to give and consequently they experienced maximum divine discipline.\u00a0 So again my point is if Satan is bound in Luke 10 how did he get loose again in Acts 5?\u00a0 If Satan is bound in Luke 10 how \u00a0did he get loose again in chapter 22, verse 3; chapter 22, verse 31, or Acts 5:3?\u00a0 So Satan was dealt no decisive blow in Luke 10 at all. Where he was dealt a decisive blow is in John 12:31 which takes place in the Upper Room just prior to Christ\u2019s death.\u00a0 Jesus says this of His impending crucifixion: \u201cNow<\/u> judgment is upon this world, now<\/em> the ruler of this world will be cast out.\u201d\u00a0 [John 12:31]\u00a0\u00a0 The turning point for Satan is not in Luke 10; the turning point for Satan is in John 12:31 where Jesus says concerning His death \u201cNow<\/u> judgment us upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.\u201d\u00a0 By using that language \u201cnow\u201d the biblical writers are not drawing our attention to Luke 10, they\u2019re drawing our attention to John 12.\n\nI don\u2019t know if you remember this, I\u2019ve used this a few times in church, I actually preached a whole sermon just on this chart here, but Satan\u2019s defeat has seven parts to it.\u00a0 He initially fell from heaven in Isaiah 14:12-15 and Ezekiel 28:12-17.\u00a0 \u00a0That\u2019s where he lost his position as a high ranking angel who once worshipped and served the Lord in his beauty but because of his pride he was corrupted and so he was removed from heaven, although he can still go back into heaven, not to worship and serve but to communicate and to accuse.\u00a0 And that\u2019s what Jesus is talking about in Luke 10, that first part of Satan\u2019s defeat.\n\nNumber two, Satan is defeated in the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3:15, right after the fall of man where a prophecy is given that there\u2019s coming one from the seed of the woman who\u2019s going to do what to the serpent\u2019s head?\u00a0 Crush it.\u00a0\u00a0 [Genesis 3:15, \u201cand I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed: he shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.\u201d] So right then and there he\u2019s put on notice that he\u2019s a defeated foe.\n\nHe is defeated again in the pre flood world because he was doing something really weird in Genesis 6 with the sons of God and the daughters of men, and I think what he was doing was having some of his demons procreate with human women to create a race of people that aren\u2019t fully human; they\u2019re called the Nephilim, or the fallen ones.\u00a0 He\u2019s trying to lock the human race into a permanent fallen state because he knows from Genesis 3:15 that the Messiah is going to come from the seed of the woman.\u00a0 Who\u2019s the woman?\u00a0 Eve, the Messiah must be fully God and fully what?\u00a0 Man!\u00a0 So what better way to stop that than to create a race of people that aren\u2019t fully human, where their genetics are tampered with, where they\u2019re partly angel and partly human.\u00a0 Those demons involved in that sin were immediately locked up in a place called Tartarus and there\u2019s a reference to that in 1 Peter 3:19-20.\u00a0 \u00a0[1 Peter 3:19-20, \u201cin which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now<\/em> in prison, [20]who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of\u00a0\u00a0 the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the<\/em> water.\u201d]\n\nAnd the fourth area where Satan is dealt a defeat is at the cross, and at the cross he is a convicted criminal.\u00a0 Now in the modern judicial system there\u2019s a difference between being convicted and being sentenced.\u00a0 In a court of law, at least the way it works in California, where I have a license to practice law, many times what would happen is someone would stand trial by a jury of their peers and they were accused of a crime and as they went through the trial process and the jury found them guilty unanimously, beyond a reasonable doubt, at that point they became a convict.\u00a0 And usually there\u2019s a second phase where someone who is not just accused but now is convicted comes before the same judge for sentencing.\n\nSo there\u2019s a distinction between conviction and sentencing.\u00a0 See that.\u00a0 And that\u2019s where Satan is right now; he hasn\u2019t been sentenced yet, the sentence hasn\u2019t been imposed yet.\u00a0 That\u2019s why he\u2019s still running the world system.\u00a0 But he is convicted, do you see that?\u00a0 And that\u2019s why John 12:31 is such a big deal.\u00a0 That\u2019s why Jesus says, \u201cNow judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.\u201d\u00a0 The conviction is not in Luke 10; the conviction is later with the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.\n\nAnd then just to kind of complete this chart points 5, 6 and 7 are the sentencing phase.\u00a0 Satan still has the ability to go into heaven, not to worship and serve as he once did as a high ranking angel but to accuse and communicate.\u00a0 That\u2019s what\u2019s going on in early Job as Satan is accusing Job; that\u2019s what was going on in Luke 22:31 where Jesus says, \u201cSimon, Simon, Satan has requested\u201d or \u201cdemanded permission to sift you like wheat.\u201d\u00a0 And Revelation 12:9 says, \u201cHe accuses the brethren\u201d how frequently, \u201cday and night.\u201d\u00a0 So day and night there he is in heaven accusing you all of the time.\u00a0 And aren\u2019t\u00a0 you glad you have a good defense attorney, the transferred righteousness of Christ. We wouldn\u2019t have much of a prayer other than that.\n\nSo midway through the tribulation period he loses even that privilege and that\u2019s when he plummets to the earth knowing he has but a short time, three and a half years left and he tries to gobble up Israel and he\u2019s trying to stop the kingdom from coming because the kingdom is going to come through Israel.\n\nThen when the thousand year kingdom comes he\u2019ll be bound at the beginning of that time period for a thousand\u00a0 years and then at the end of the thousand\u00a0 years he\u2019ll be thrown into the lake of fire, Revelation 20:10. [Revelation 20:10, \u201cAnd the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.\u201d]\n\nSo this is where Satan is today; he lives between his first three defeats and his final three defeats; he\u2019s a defeated foe, he\u2019s been convicted, it\u2019s just the sentence hasn\u2019t been imposed yet.\u00a0 And the turning point is in John 12:39, that\u2019s where he is convicted.\u00a0 He is still waiting for the sentence to be imposed. [John 12:39, For this reason they could not believe, for Isaiah said again,\u201d\u2019]\n\nAnd see, this helps you understand the hatred of Satan for the Christian, for the human race, for anything that\u2019s good.\u00a0 He knows he\u2019s going down, right!\u00a0 Now what would you do if you were him?\u00a0 You would probably take as many people down as you can, right.\u00a0 That shows you the desperate nature of him.\n\nSo the turning point for Satan in number 4 is not Luke 10; Luke 10 is just an allusion back to point 1.\u00a0 The turning point for Satan there is in point 4, John 12:31, that\u2019s where he receives his formal conviction as Jesus is making a short term prophecy there about Christ\u2019s crucifixion on the cross and His resurrection from the dead.\u00a0 The moment that happened is the moment Satan was convicted at that point.\u00a0 That\u2019s the big deal, not Luke 10 and some kind of binding of Satan to start a kingdom.\u00a0 I mean, that\u2019s not the big deal at all, that\u2019s just a reference to the past.\u00a0 The big turning point takes place later.\n\nSo Satan is convicted but he hasn\u2019t been defeated yet.\u00a0 He\u2019s convicted but the sentence hasn\u2019t been imposed yet.\u00a0 And that\u2019s why today he is still running the world system even though he\u2019s a defeated foe, because the kingdom now people come along and they say well, he\u2019s a defeated foe so the kingdom has started.\u00a0 No, they don\u2019t understand the difference between conviction and sentencing.\u00a0 Conviction has been entered, sentencing hasn\u2019t been imposed\u00a0 yet.\u00a0 So that\u2019s how he can be a defeated foe but still the god of this age.\u00a0 See that?\u00a0 And your New Testament tells you that very, very clearly.\u00a0 I have all the verses there that you can look up on your own, but the New Testament never tells us that he\u2019s bound currently, he\u2019s the Prince of this World, he\u2019s the god of this age, he\u2019s the prince and power of the air, if he wasn\u2019t those things then why would we bother to put on the armor of God.\u00a0 Right.\u00a0 He is a roaring lion seeking whom someone to devour.\u00a0 And 1 John 5:19 tells us that the whole world lies in the lap of the wicked one.\u00a0 [1 John 5:19, \u201cWe know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.\u201d]\n\nAnd there\u2019s a third reason why I don\u2019t think Satan was bound in Luke 10.\u00a0 Many people in Luke 10:18 where Jesus says, \u201cI was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning.\u201d\u00a0 My position on it is Jesus is referring to a past tense event.\u00a0 He\u2019s referring to something that already happened.\u00a0 He\u2019s not referring to something that happened in Luke 10 at that precise moment.\u00a0 Now people that oppose that interpretation will come back at me and say well why does Jesus say \u201cI was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning,\u201d I mean, if Luke 10:18 is referring to a past event why doesn\u2019t it say \u201cI watched Satan fall from heaven like lightening\u201d?\u00a0 Why doesn\u2019t instead say \u201cI was watching Satan fall,\u201d watching seems to indicate that it was happening right then and there.\u00a0 And this is what\u2019s called the imperfect tense, this verb \u201cwatching,\u201d the imperfect tense is a past yet continuous action.\u00a0 So people say this could not be referring to some event in the past because Jesus doesn\u2019t say I watched Satan fall from heaven like lightning, He says \u201cI was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning.\u201d\n\nSo how would I answer that?\u00a0 Well, the verb translated \u201cwatching\u201d is the\u014dreo<\/em>, does anybody know what English word comes out of the\u014dreo<\/em>, what would do you recognize there?\u00a0 Theory, as in a theory is something you contemplate, right?\u00a0 A theory is something you think about.\u00a0 So when Jesus says \u201cI was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning\u201d watching may not be the best translation of that verb.\u00a0 What he was saying is I was thinking about it, I was ruminating about it as I was getting ready to rebuke the seventy because I was there when it happened.\n\nSo Frederick L. Godet, a great French scholar from a previous era supports this meaning that I just gave.\u00a0 He says: \u201cThe word \u1f10\u03b8\u03b5\u03ce\u03c1\u03bf\u03c5\u03bd [theor\u0113o<\/em>], means I was contemplating<\/em>, it denotes an intuition, not a vision. Jesus does not appear to have had visions after the time of His baptism.\u201d\u00a0 His baptism was the last vision that He had and it says, \u201cThe two acts which the imperfect I was contemplating<\/em> shows to be simultaneous, and are evidently that informal perception.\u201d [Frederick L. Godet, A Commentary on the Gospel of St. Luke<\/em>, trans. E. W. Shalders & M. D. Cusin, 2 vols., vol. 2 (New York: I. K. Funk and Co., 1881), 2:24]\n\nSo when it says \u201cI was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightening\u201d the better translation, I think, is this:\u00a0 Jesus was saying I was there when Satan originally fell; in fact, I as the eternally existent member of the Godhead caused that original fall, going all the way back to Isaiah 14:12-14, Ezekiel 19:12-17.\u00a0 And it just so happens that when the seventy came back sort of arrogant I was thinking about that fall.\u00a0 He\u2019s not saying I was watching it happen right then and there.\u00a0 He said I was thinking about it, I was contemplating about it.\u00a0 And that formed the exhortation for the rebuke to them that they were only able to exorcise evil spirits out of His delegated authority.\u00a0 See that?\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 So it\u2019s really not saying I was watching Satan fall from heaven right then and there the way kingdom now theologians believe it reads.\u00a0\u00a0 He was saying I was thinking about it and as an eternally existent being I was there to actually see it happen.\n\nSo one of the key verses that people use to support kingdom now theology is Luke 10:18, where Jesus, in the middle of his ministry, as He\u2019s sending out the seventy and interacting with them He says \u201cI was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightening\u201d and kingdom now people, either in the full blown amillennial sense or in the more limited Darrel Bock sense want this to mean that the reign of God started, the kingdom started.\u00a0 And what I\u2019m saying is you don\u2019t have to interpret this verse that way.\u00a0 In fact, to make that verse say that is to coerce it into something that it\u2019s really not saying at all.\u00a0 All Jesus is saying is I, as the eternally existent third member of the Trinity was there when Satan fell.\u00a0 And that forms My exhortation to you, the seventy, not to be arrogant because you only have the power you have under My delegation.\n\nAnd number two, if Satan fell in Luke 10, that doesn\u2019t make any sense because he sure looks active in Luke 22, verse 3 and verse 31, and Acts 5 verse 3.\u00a0 [Luke 22:3, \u201cAnd Satan entered into Judas who was called Iscariot, belonging to the number of the twelve.\u201d\u00a0 Luke 22:31, \u201cSimon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat;\u201d\u00a0 Acts 5:3, \u201cBut Peter said, \"Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land?\u201d]\n\nAnd the decisive point for Satan is not Luke 10, it\u2019s John 12:31; that\u2019s where there\u2019s a reference to his conviction.\u00a0 [John 12:31, \u201cNow judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.\u201d]\n\nThen the argument against my side is well then why does it say \u201cwatching\u201d if it\u2019s referring to some kind of past fall of Satan why does say \u201cwatching\u201d instead of watched?\u00a0 And I don\u2019t think verb actually says \u201cwatching.\u201d\u00a0 I think what it says is I was contemplating it, I was thinking about it, I was thinking about Satan\u2019s fall that I was there to see, and that forms the basis of his rebuke to the seventy.\n\nSo all things considered you can\u2019t use Luke 10:18, \u201cI was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning,\u201d you can\u2019t use that to build kingdom now theology.\u00a0 That verse just isn\u2019t saying that.\n\nAnd the next time we\u2019re together, which will be our last meeting before the summer, and we\u2019re going to look at the Big Kahuna of kingdom now theology, Matthew 12:28 where Jesus says, \u201cthe kingdom has come upon you.\u201d\u00a0 [Matthew 12:28, \u201cBut if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.]\u00a0 And kingdom now theologians love that verse.\u00a0\u00a0 And so I\u2019ll teach you how to decipher your way out of that one also next time.\n\nSo hopefully some of that was understandable and helped you put the details of the Bible together a little better.","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t